Decoding the Quantum Mystery

Signals from space to Earth could establish the reality of Einstein's worst fear

Every true fan of science fiction (and science too, for that
matter) should be familiar with Forbidden Planet, the film famous for
introducing the world to Robby the Robot.

The story takes place in the 23rd century on Altair-4, where
the crew of the cruiser C-57D attempts to devise a contraption to communicate
with Earth. “I’ll bet any quantum mechanic in the service would give the rest
of his life for a chance to fool around with this gadget,” Chief Engineer Quinn
(Richard Anderson) tells Commander Adams (Leslie Nielsen).

When the film was new, in 1956, scientists would have
chortled. “Quantum mechanics” weren’t repairmen for message-sending machines.
It was the math for describing subatomic physics.

But it turns out that Forbidden Planet was prescient
about more than just talking robots. No doubt the C-57D crew was trying to send
a coded message back to Earth, made safe from eavesdropping by the use of
quantum cryptography.

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